internet was installed wednesday, yay. At work right now freezing my balls off, it's 67.8f with 60% relative humidity in here. on the plus side i picked up a bag of frosted animal cookies and a bottle of water at the exchange. good breakfast ;)

all moved in, no internet at home till wednesday though. just started working the 5:30am-2:30pm shift, it's pretty nice actually. no traffic at all on the way into work. didn't sleep well last night, kept waking up.

Hurricane Isabel is on her way, should start hitting us in a few hours. I'm sure it's raining but I can't be bothered to remove my headphones. Here's a vid of the wind from earlier today, around 4pm, I'll take some more tomorrow when I wake up.

woo, friday is tomorrow. this week has worn me out, working 7-5 all week sucks plus training new people. time for bed already. wonder if any new (good) movies come out this weekend. tomorrow i have to send my camera off to get it fixed. bleh.

WASHINGTON - Chronically short of musicians for military funerals, the Pentagon (news - web sites) has approved the use of a push-button bugle that plays taps by itself as the operator holds it to his lips.

Only some 500 buglers are on active duty on any one day, but about 1,800 people with military service die across the country each day and are eligible for honors ceremonies, Air Force Lt. Col. Cynthia Colin, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Thursday.

So the Defense Department worked with private industry to invent the "ceremonial bugle," which has a small digital recording device inserted into its bell to play the music.

A member of the honor guard at the funeral simply presses a button on the device. A five-second delay gives the guards time to raise the instrument to their lips as if they are going to play it.

The vast majority of families endorsed its use in a six-month test from November to May in Missouri, where 50 prototypes were distributed to military units and others who provide funeral honors, such as veterans groups, the Pentagon said in a statement Wednesday night. Based on the test, use of the instrument was approved by Principal Deputy Under Secretary Charles S. Abell.

A real bugler still will be used when available. Otherwise, the family of the deceased service member will be offered the ceremonial bugle as an alternative to prerecorded taps, often played on a boom box.

Use of the $500 instrument "is intended to enhance the dignity of military funeral honors," the Pentagon said.

Also, it plays "an exceptionally high-quality rendition of taps that is virtually indistinguishable from a live bugler," the Pentagon said.

The military has been struggling for years to cope with its shortage of musicians for funerals. Families of honorably discharged veterans are entitled to a two-person uniformed funeral honor guard, the folding and presentation of the U.S. flag and a rendition of taps.

Congress passed a law that took effect in January 2000 and allows a recorded version of taps using audio equipment if a live horn player is not available. Officials say the push-button bugle is a dignified alternative because the visual effect of a guard playing the instrument is better than taps played on a stereo or compact disc player.

We had a meeting today at work, everyone that I called in to help with the virus problem a few weeks ago got a letter of commendation from the CEO of our company, and the head of IT of our client, whom I would least expect it from (I think I’ll frame it). And a $100 gift travelers check, which was a nice touch.

Took some pics of the fog on my way into work this morning, as usual I dragged my feet a little in the morning so I didn't have time to stop and take pics, they're a little blurry as they were taken from a moving vehicle.

It's called the Paramedic's Poem, and if you know anyone who's ever worked the job you'll understand how true it is.

When the Lord made Paramedics, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? A paramedic has to be able to carry an injured person up a wet, grassy hill in the dark, dodge stray bullets to reach a dying child unarmed, enter homes the health inspector wouldn't touch, and not wrinkle his uniform." "He has to be able to lift 3 times his own weight, crawl into wrecked cars with barely enough room to move, and console a grieving mother as he is doing CPR on a baby he knows will never breathe again."

"He has to be in top mental condition at all times, running on no sleep, black coffee and half eaten meals. And he has to have six pairs of hands." The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way." "It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "It's the three pairs of eyes a medic has to have." "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees open sores as he's drawing blood and asks the patient if they may be HIV positive," (When he already knows) "Another pair here in the side of his head for his partners' safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, "You'll be all right ma'am" when he knows it isn't so."

"Lord,” said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow." "I can't,” said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound drunk out from behind a steering wheel without incident and feed a family of five on a private service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the paramedic very slowly, "Can it think?" she asked. "You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the symptoms of 100 illnesses; recite drug calculations in it's sleep; intubate, defibrillate, medicate, and continue CPR nonstop over terrain that any doctor would fear...and still it keeps it's sense of humor.

This medic also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with a multi-victim trauma, coax a frightened elderly person to unlock their door, comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily paper how paramedics were unable to locate a house quickly enough, allowing the person to die. A house that had no street sign, no house numbers, no phone to call back."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the paramedic. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model." "That's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear." "What's the tear for?" asked the angel. "It's for bottled-up emotions, for patients they've tried in vain to save, for commitment to that hope that they will make a difference in a person's chance to survive, for life." "You're a genius," said the angel. The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there,” He said.

just noticed my mouse charge light is blinking, guess that's the end of using the computer for me for a few hours :)

Enjoying a long weekend. Doing lots of reading. Went to the range Friday and found out the scope on my rifle is busted and has to be sent back to the factory, so I went and shot pistol. Did very well on the 25 yard range, kept them all on the target.

damn it's hot today Changed the oil in my truck around 2:30pm today, the oil was so hot from just sitting that it burned the hell out of my hands and arms when it splashed on me as I pulled the oil pan plug out. DOH!